Device and system for selective wireless communication with contact list memory

ABSTRACT

Methods, devices and systems for wireless communication. A device user defines a list of contacts and receives a collective indication of which contacts are located within a neighborhood of the device. The neighborhood is defined at the device, for example by the device itself or by the user. A plurality of device users define respective user profiles including user attributes. One of the users defines a target attribute, and receives an indication of which other users that have that attribute have devices in the first user&#39;s neighborhood. The devices communicate among themselves either indirectly, for example via cellular base stations, or directly.

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless communication and, moreparticularly, to a method and system with which a user of a wirelesstransceiver can be informed which other users, of similar wirelesstransceivers, who are of interest to the user, are available forcommunication.

Cellular telephony networks are well-known and ubiquitous. A subscriberto a cellular telephony service can use a mobile telephone tocommunicate with other subscribers, or with subscribers to ordinary,fixed telephony service. The communication is wireless, via a set offixed base stations.

Direct wireless communication between users of mobile handsets also isknown. One such method of particular interest is the “three-in-one”usage model of “voice over Bluetooth” as defined by Ericsson ofStockholm, Sweden under the Bluetooth standard for short-range ad hocwireless networks, or “piconets”. (Even though, strictly speaking, theterm “piconet” is specific to the Bluetooth standard, this term is usedherein to refer to an ad-hoc, temporary wireless network establishedunder either Bluetooth or any similar wireless communication protocol.)In the most common implementations of the “three-in-one” model in “voiceover Bluetooth”, the mobile telephone is used as a wireless telephone incommunication with a home base station, or as a cellular telephone; butthe model also includes the possibility of peer-to-peer communication in“intercom” mode.

The Nokia Series 60 smartphone software platform supports multiplayergames in Bluetooth. Users of devices that are based on this platform canget together to create a Bluetooth piconet for playing interactivemultiplayer games. Friends can arrange to meet to play games, but thereis no convenient way for friends to identify each other in a crowd forthe purpose of spontaneously forming a Bluetooth piconet to play a game.More generally, there is no convenient way for a mobile phone user touse his/her mobile phone to identify members of a common interest groupwho coincidentally are nearby. The Bluetooth standard includes a “devicediscovery procedure” by which one Bluetooth device discovers which otherBluetooth devices are within wireless communication range; but thisprocedure finds all such devices, not just the devices that belong tomembers of a common interest group.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a method ofcommunication by a user of a first wireless device, including the stepsof: (a) defining a contact list that includes at least one contact name;(b) defining a neighborhood of the first wireless device, the definingbeing effected at the first wireless device; and (c) indicating which ofthe at least one contact name is associated with a respective otherwireless device located within the neighborhood.

According to the present invention there is provided a method ofcommunication by a plurality of users of respective wireless devices,including the steps of: (a) defining a respective user profile for eachuser, at least one user profile including at least one user attribute;(b) defining a target attribute, by one of the users; (c) defining aneighborhood of the respective wireless device of the one user, thedefining being effected at the respective wireless device of the oneuser; and (d) indicating to the one user which of the respectivewireless devices of the other users, whose respective user profilesinclude the target attribute among the user attributes thereof, arewithin the neighborhood.

According to the present invention there is provided a wirelesscommunication device, including: (a) a transceiver for communicatingwith other wireless devices; (b) a contact list memory for storing acontact list that includes at least one contact name; (c) a mechanismfor defining a neighborhood of the wireless communication device; and(d) a mechanism for indicating which of the at least one contact name isassociated with a respective other wireless device located within theneighborhood.

According to the present invention there is provided a wirelesscommunication device, including: (a) a transceiver for communicatingwith other wireless devices; (b) a mechanism for defining a neighborhoodof the wireless communication device; (c) a mechanism for defining atarget attribute; and (d) a display mechanism for indicating whether arespective other wireless device, of a user who has the targetattribute, is located within the neighborhood.

As understood herein, a “contact name” is a character string associatedwith a person or other entity (the “contact”) with whom a user of awireless device may wish to communicate. Typical contact names includeactual names of contacts, nicknames of contacts and telephone numbers ofcontacts.

The methods, devices and systems of the present invention are methods,devices and systems for communication among users of the devices.“Communication” is to be understood in a generalized sense asfacilitating the possibility of interaction among users of the devices.The present invention enables a user to find out which other users,generally or as members of a common interest group, are available forinteraction via their respective devices. Whether the user actuallyinteracts with the other users is optional.

According to a first method of the present invention, a contact listthat includes at least one contact name is defined for a first wirelessdevice, typically by the user of the device; a neighborhood of thedevice is defined, by the user of the device or by the device itself;and an indication is provided of which of the contact names, if any, isassociated with another wireless device that is located within theneighborhood. The neighborhood typically is defined by defining aneighborhood radius around the first wireless device: any other wirelessdevice that is within the defined distance of the first wireless deviceis deemed to be within the neighborhood. Alternatively, the neighborhoodis defined via a minimum signal strength: any other wireless device fromwhich a signal is received by the first wireless device at a signalstrength at least as great as the minimum signal strength is deemed tobe within the neighborhood.

Optionally, if one of the contacts is in fact indicated to be associatedwith a wireless device located within the neighborhood, the user of thefirst wireless device communicates with the other wireless device. Thiscommunication may be direct, for example via a Bluetooth piconet, orindirect, for example via a base station of a cellular telephonynetwork.

Preferably, the contact list includes, for at least one of the contactnames, at least one respective attribute. The user of the first wirelessdevice defines a target attribute. The indication that is provided alsoindicates whether the target attribute is among the attributes, if any,of each of the contact names that is associated with another wirelessdevice located within the defined neighborhood of the first wirelessdevice. Most preferably, only the contact names that have the targetattribute are indicated.

Preferably, along with indicating which of the contact names isassociated with another wireless device that is located within theneighborhood, the geographical location of at least one of those otherwireless devices also is indicated. One way of indicating thegeographical location of one of the other wireless devices is toindicate the range and bearing from the first wireless device to theother wireless device.

According to a second method of the present invention, a respective userprofile is defined for each of a plurality of users of respectivewireless devices. At least one of the user profiles includes at leastone attribute of the respective user. One of the users defines a targetattribute. A neighborhood of that user's wireless device is defined, bythat user or by that user's wireless, device; and an indication isprovided of which wireless devices, if any, of the other users whoseuser profiles include the target attribute among those users'attributes, are located within the neighborhood.

The neighborhood typically is defined by defining a neighborhood radiusaround the one user's wireless device: any other wireless device that iswithin the defined distance of the one user's wireless device is deemedto be within the neighborhood. Alternatively, the neighborhood isdefined via a minimum signal strength: any other wireless device fromwhich a signal is received by the one user's wireless device at a signalstrength at least as great as the minimum signal strength is deemed tobe within the neighborhood. Optionally, if a wireless device, amongwhose user's attributes is the target attribute, is in fact within theneighborhood, the one user communicates with the user of that otherwireless device.

Preferably, along with indicating which wireless devices, of the otherusers whose user profiles include the target attribute among thoseusers' attributes, are located within the neighborhood, the geographicallocation of one of the wireless devices of those other users also isindicated.

A wireless communication device for implementing the first method of thepresent invention includes a transceiver for communicating with otherwireless devices; a contact list memory for storing the contact list; amechanism for defining the neighborhood of the wireless communicationdevice; and a mechanism for indicating which contact names, if any, areassociated with respective other wireless devices that are locatedwithin the neighborhood.

Preferably, the wireless communication device includes a mechanism forsetting up a piconet that includes the wireless communication device andthe other wireless device(s) that is/are located within theneighborhood.

Preferably, the wireless communication device includes a navigationmechanism for determining a location of the wireless communicationdevice.

Preferably, the wireless communication device includes a mechanism forindicating the geographical location of one of the other wirelessdevices that is located within the neighborhood and that is associatedwith one of the contact names.

A system for implementing the first method of the present inventionincludes a plurality of wireless communication devices for implementingthe first method of the present invention and at least one base stationfor managing wireless communication among the wireless communicationdevices. Preferably, at least one of the base stations includes amechanism for determining the respective locations of the wirelesscommunication devices. Alternatively, each wireless communication deviceincludes its own mechanism for determining its own location andinforming the base station(s) of that location.

To also support the second method of the present invention, the wirelesscommunication device preferably also includes a mechanism for defining atarget attribute. Each contact name optionally is associated with atleast one respective attribute. The mechanism for indicating whichcontact name(s) is/are associated with the wireless devices that arelocated within the neighborhood also indicates whether the targetattribute is among the attribute(s) associated with the contact name(s).Most preferably, only the contact names that have the target attributeare indicated.

A system for implementing the second method of the present inventionincludes a plurality of wireless communication devices that support bothmethods of the present invention and at least one user profile memoryfor storing respective user profiles of the wireless communicationdevices. Recall that in order to implement the first method of thepresent invention, each wireless communication device must include amechanism for indicating which contact names are associated withrespective other wireless devices that are located within the definedneighborhood of the wireless communication device. In order to supportthe second method of the present invention, if the other wireless deviceis a member of the plurality of wireless communication devices thatsupport both methods of the present invention, then that mechanism alsoindicates whether the target attribute is among the attributes, if any,in that other wireless device's user profile. Preferably, only thecontact names, that are associated with respective other wirelessdevices that have the target attribute among the attributes in theiruser profiles, are indicated.

Preferably, each wireless communication device has its own user profilememory for storing its user profile. Alternatively, the system includesat least one base station for managing communication among the wirelesscommunication devices, and the user profile memory or memories are atthe at least one base station.

A wireless communication device that supports the second method of thepresent invention without necessarily supporting the first method of thepresent invention includes a transceiver for communicating with otherwireless devices, a mechanism for defining a neighborhood of thewireless communication device, a mechanism for defining a targetattribute and a display mechanism for indicating whether one of theother wireless devices, whose user has the target attribute, is locatedwithin the neighborhood.

Preferably, the wireless communication device includes a mechanism forsetting up a piconet that includes the wireless communication device andthe other wireless device(s) that is/are located within theneighborhood.

Preferably, the wireless communication device includes a navigationmechanism for determining a location of the wireless communicationdevice.

Preferably, the wireless communication device also includes a mechanismfor indicating the geographical location of one of the other wirelessdevices that is located within the neighborhood and whose user has thetarget attribute.

Another system for implementing the second method of the presentinvention includes a plurality of wireless communication devices thatsupport the second method of the present invention without necessarilysupporting the first method of the present invention, and a base stationfor managing communication among the wireless communication devices.Preferably, at least one of the base stations includes a mechanism fordetermining the respective locations of the wireless communicationdevices. Alternatively, each wireless communication device includes itsown mechanism for determining its own location and informing the basestation(s) of that location.

Yet another system for implementing the second method of the presentinvention includes a plurality of wireless communication devices thatsupport the second method of the present invention without necessarilysupporting the first method of the present invention, and at least oneuser profile memory for storing respective user profiles of the wirelesscommunication devices. For any of such wireless communication devices,if one of the other wireless devices with which that wirelesscommunication device communicates is another such wireless communicationdevice and the target attribute is among the user attributes in theother wireless device's user profile, then the display mechanism of thefirst wireless communication device indicates that the other wirelessdevice is located within the neighborhood of the first wirelesscommunication device. Preferably, each wireless communication device hasits own user profile memory for storing its user profile. Alternatively,the system includes at least one base station for managing communicationamong the wireless communication devices, and the user profile memory ormemories are at the at least one base station.

Graham, in US Patent Application No. 2003/0060215, teaches a method,similar to the methods of the present invention, for indicating to auser of a cellular telephone how many other users, or even how manyother users that satisfy certain selection criteria, are insystem-specified or user specified geographic areas. The presentinvention differs from the invention of Graham in several respects,notably that the present invention identifies the other users. Inaddition, Graham's “geographic areas” apparently are cells, orcombinations of cells, of the associated cellular network. The presentinvention locates the other users of interest with considerably moreprecision than just one cell of a cellular network.

Pelephone Communications of Givatayim, Israel offers a service called“Escape” that is similar to the present invention, in that a user of acellular telephone can define a contact list and ask which of thecontacts are in his/her neighborhood, and where (in general terms)selected contacts are located. One important difference between thepresent invention and Escape is that Escape does not allow the users todefine their own neighborhoods but instead defines neighborhoods for theusers. This distinction between the present invention and Escape isdefined in the method claims as the definition of the neighborhood beingeffected at the wireless device of the user who wants to know whichcontacts are in his/her neighborhood. Defining the to neighborhood atthe wireless device is in contrast to the neighborhood being defined byan entity, such as a cellular base station or at the Mobile SwitchingCenter of a GSM cellular network, that is not necessarily collocatedwith the wireless device when the neighborhood is defined. For example,under the present invention, the user may define the neighborhoodexplicitly, e.g. by using the keypad of the wireless device to enter avalue of a radius, or the wireless device itself may define theneighborhood implicitly, e.g. on the basis of received signal strength.In addition, the present invention locates contacts much more preciselythan Escape. Escape tells users in general terms where their contactsare (e.g., “near Ichilov hospital”). The present invention providesusers with geographical coordinates of contacts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a mobile wireless communicationdevice of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a contact list;

FIG. 3 shows a user profile;

FIG. 4 illustrates a cellular telephony embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a prior art contact list display;

FIG. 6 is a contact list display in which the contact who is located inthe neighborhood and who has the target attribute is highlighted;

FIG. 7 is a display of names of general users who are located in theneighborhood and who have the target attribute;

FIG. 8 is a display of the geographic location of one of the generalusers of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a contact list display in which all active contacts arehighlighted;

FIG. 10 is a contact list display in which all active contacts in theneighborhood are highlighted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is of a method and system by which a user of amobile wireless communication device can be shown which members of acontact list are available for communication, either via the members'own mobile wireless communication devices or face-to-face. Inparticular, the indication can be restricted to only members of thecontact list who have a specifically targeted attribute, such asbelonging to a specific interest group.

The principles and operation of selective communication according to thepresent invention may be better understood with reference to thedrawings and the accompanying description.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of amobile wireless communication device 10 of the present invention. Thehigh level components of device 10 include a transceiver 14, a processor16, a memory 18, a keypad 24, a display screen 26 and a navigation unit28, all intercommunicating via a common bus 12.

Transceiver 14 is a conventional transceiver that supports wirelessvoice communication between device 10 and another such device. As such,transceiver 14 includes a microphone for converting audible speech of auser of device 10 to electrical signals, a transmitter for modulating aradio frequency carrier wave according to those electrical signals andtransmitting the modulated radio frequency wave, a receiver forreceiving a similarly modulated radio frequency wave and demodulatingthe received wave to produce electrical signals corresponding toreceived audible speech, and a speaker for converting the receivedelectrical signals to sound that is audible by the user of device 10.

Overall operation of device 10 is controlled by a conventional processor16. Keypad 24 is a conventional data entry device, and display screen 26is a conventional data display device, such as are familiar to users ofcellular telephones. Memory 18 is a non-volatile read/write memory, suchas a flash memory, that stores, inter alia, two lists that are unique tothe present invention: a contact list 20 and a user profile 22.Navigation unit 28 is a unit such as a GPS receiver that determines thegeographical location of device 10, typically (as in the case of a GPSreceiver) as the geographical coordinates of device 10 in a standardgeographical coordinate system.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a contact list 20 of the present invention.Contact list 20 is a table of names and telephone numbers of people andother entities with which the user of device 10 communicates usingdevice 10. Each row 30 of contact list 20 is specific to a particularcontact. The first column 32 of contact list 20 is for names ornicknames of contacts. The second column 34 of contact list 20 is fortelephone numbers of contacts. The remaining columns 36 of contact list20 are for user-defined attributes of the contacts. In the exampleshown, the attributes are membership in interest groups of interest tothe user of device 10. In the example shown, there are two attributecolumns 36. The table of contact list 20 is extensible to any desirednumber of attribute columns 34, limited only by the capacity of memory18.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a user profile 22 of the present invention.User profile 22 is a list of information about the user of device 10.The first field 40 is used to store the name of the user. The secondfield 42 is used to store the telephone number of the user. Subsequentfields 44 are used to store attributes of the user that the user wantsto make public, so that other users of devices 10 can use the methods ofthe present invention to contact and/or locate that user. Only one field44 in FIG. 3 is shown as being used to store a user attribute. Theremaining fields 44 are available for future use. Note that theattributes of FIG. 2 are private attributes that are used only by theuser of the device 10 that stores contact list 20 of FIG. 2, and so maybe simple and general. By contrast, the attribute shown in FIG. 3 is apublic attribute and so is necessarily more specific, showing that JohnSmith is a member of Masonic Lodge 123, and not merely that John Smithis a Mason.

FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of an embodiment of the presentinvention in which devices 10 are cellular telephones (“cell phones”)that communicate with each other via base stations 50 of a cellulartelephony network. In FIG. 4, devices 10 are labeled by the names oftheir users: JOHN is the user whose device 10 stores user profile 22 ofFIG. 3, and the other users are users (JIM, MOM, TOM, DICK, ALICE) thatare listed in contact list 20 of JOHN's device 10, and also SID, anothermember of Masonic Lodge 123. Like user profile 22 of JOHN's device 10,user profile 22 of SID's device 10 includes “Masonic Lodge 123” as auser attribute.

The following operations are performed by JOHN by appropriate use ofkeypad 24 to select menu items displayed on display screen 26, as isconventional in the use of cell phones. These operations producedisplays on display screen 26 of the type illustrated in FIGS. 5-10. Thefirst operation (contact list display) is a prior art operation commonto cell phones generally, and is presented only as background for thesubsequent operations.

Contact List Display

FIG. 5 illustrates the display of the contact names of contact list 20.

Rectangle 54 outlines a portion (five lines) of column 32 of contactlist that is actually displayed on display screen 26 at one time. JOHNviews the entire list of contact names by scrolling the list up anddown. JOHN calls a contact of his contact list 20 by selecting the nameof the contact.

Defining a Neighborhood

JOHN defines a neighborhood of his cell phone 10 by entering the radius(e.g., 200 meters) of the neighborhood using keypad 24. All other cellphones 10 that are within a circle 52 of the defined radius centered onJOHN's cell phone 10 are located within the defined neighborhood.

Contacts Having an Attribute

To find out which contacts to whom JOHN has assigned the attribute“Mason” are within the defined neighborhood with their cell phones 10turned on, JOHN enters the target attribute “Mason” using keypad 24. Theresulting display on display screen 26 is illustrated in FIG. 6. Thisdisplay is identical to the display of contact list 20 in FIG. 5, exceptthat “TOM” is highlighted.

Alternatively, only the contacts with the attribute “Mason”, whose cellphones 10 are turned on, are displayed. In the present example, such adisplay would include only the name “TOM”.

There are two methods by which JOHN's cell phone 10 can determine thatthe only contact with the attribute “Mason” that is present in thedefined neighborhood is TOM.

The first method is by exploiting known techniques by which a cellulartelephony network monitors the movements of its cell phones that areturned on. See, for example, Neher, U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,778 and theprior art references cited therein. Both the Neher patent and all of theprior art references cited therein are incorporated by reference for allpurposes as if fully set forth herein. Each base station 50 keeps arecord of the geographical locations of the cell phones that are activein the cell serviced by that base station 50 and in the neighboringcells. JOHN's cell phone 10 requests, from the base station 50 that isservicing JOHN's cell phone 10, the geographical locations of all cellphones 10 of contacts that have the attribute “Mason”. That base station50 responds by sending to JOHN's cell phone 10 the geographicallocations of active cell phones 10 of all the contacts that have theattribute “Mason”. Using the geographical location of JOHN's cell phone10 as determined by navigation unit 28, processor 16 of JOHN's cellphone 10 computes the range to all of those cell phones 10. Cell phones10 whose ranges are less than or equal to the defined radius are withinthe defined neighborhood. Note that this method works even for cellphones of the cellular telephony network that are not cell phones 10 ofthe present invention.

The second method is by successively dialing all the telephone numbersof all the cell phones 10 of the contacts with the attribute “Mason”, ina background mode that does not cause those cell phones 10 to ring, butmerely prompts those cell phones to reply with messages that indicatethe geographical locations of those cell phones, as determined by theirnavigation units 28. “Background” mode is, as its name implies, a modeof operation that coexists with normal operation of a cell phone 10 andis transparent to the user of that cell phone 10. Typically,“background” mode operates via the control channel of the cellulartelephony network. So, for example, a cell phone 10 can respond to a“background” mode inquiry even while the user of that cell phone 10 isengaged in conversation via that cell phone 10. As in the first method,processor 16 of JOHN's cell phone 10 computes the ranges to all cellphones 10 that respond to the background mode query from JOHN's cellphone 10. Cell phones 10 whose ranges are less than or equal to thedefined radius are within the defined neighborhood. This method locatesonly cell phones 10 of the present invention and other similar cellphones that are equipped with navigation units such as units 28.

General Users having an Attribute

To find out which members of Masonic Lodge 123 have their cell phones 10turned on within the defined neighborhood, JOHN enters the targetattribute “Masonic Lodge 123” using keypad 24. Processor 16 of JOHN'scell phone 10 can tell that “Masonic Lodge 123” is a public attributerather than a private attribute because “Masonic Lodge 123” is not amongthe attributes appearing in attribute columns 36 of contact list 20.Alternatively, the menu scheme of cell phone 10 sets up the context forprocessor 16 knowing whether an entered attribute is a private attributeor a public attribute. The resulting display on display screen 26 isshown in FIG. 7. The display includes the names of TOM (“Thomas Brown”)and SID (“Sidney Harris”) as recorded in fields 40 of user profiles 22of their cell phones 10. JOHN can call TOM or SID by selecting theappropriate name in the display.

In order for JOHN's cell phone 10 to determine which cell phones 10 havea target attribute in their user profiles 22, JOHN's cell phone 10 musthave access to those user profiles 22. This access is via base stations50. Whenever a cell phone 10 becomes active in the cell managed by abase station 50, either by moving into that cell or by being turned onwithin that cell, that base station 50 copies user profile 22 of thatcell phone 10 into a local database, and also transmits that userprofile 22 to the neighboring base stations 50 for copying to their ownlocal databases. JOHN's cell phone 10 requests, from the base station 50that is servicing JOHN's cell phone 10, the geographical locations ofall cell phones 10 for which that base station 50 has recorded in itsdatabase corresponding user profiles 22 that include the targetattribute. That base station 50 responds by sending to JOHN's cell phone10 those geographical locations, along with the corresponding names aslisted in fields 40 of user profiles 22 and the corresponding telephonenumbers as listed in fields 42 of user profiles 22. Using thegeographical location of JOHN's cell phone 10 as determined bynavigation unit 28, processor 16 of JOHN's cell phone 10 computes therange to all the cell phones 10 whose geographical locations have beenreceived from base station 50. Cell phones 10 whose ranges are less thanor equal to the defined radius are within the defined neighborhood, andthe corresponding user names are displayed on display screen 26.

The target attribute sought by a user of cell phone 10 need not be auser attribute of that user. Furthermore, a user of cell phone 10 canseek other users according to logical combinations of target attributesand ranges of numerical target attributes. For example, a user with theattributes “Single”, “Jewish”, “Male” and “Age=30” can seek users withthe logical attribute combination “Single” AND “Jewish” AND “Female” AND“25≦Age≦32”.

Note that JOHN need not have any user attributes of his own defined inhis user profile 22 in order to seek cell phones 10 of other users thathave a target attribute among their user attributes.

Geographical Locations of Contacts or General Users

JOHN can find out where TOM or SID are by calling and asking “where areyou?” Alternatively, JOHN can invoke a display of the geographicallocation of TOM or SID on display screen 26, either as geographicalcoordinates in a standard coordinate system or relative to JOHN's ownlocation. FIG. 8 shows an example of one such display, in terms of therange and bearing to SID relative to JOHN. Note that “range” and“bearing” are geographical coordinates in a coordinate system whoseorigin is at JOHN's location. The information needed by processor 16 ofJOHN's cell phone 10 to compute this range and bearing is contained inSID's geographic location as received by JOHN's cell phone 10 in thecourse of identifying the other members of Masonic Lodge 123 whose cellphones 10 are active within the defined neighborhood.

All Active Contacts

JOHN has the option of showing collectively and simultaneously, in thedisplay of contact list 20, all contacts whose cell phones 10 are turnedon, or all contacts within the defined neighborhood whose cell phones 10are turned on. FIG. 9 is an example of a display of all contacts whosecell phones 10 are turned on, i.e., all the contacts illustrated in FIG.4. Note that JOHN needs to scroll up and down in the display in order tosee all the active contacts. FIG. 10 is an example of a display of allactive contacts whose cell phones 10 are located within the definedneighborhood.

In the example of FIG. 4, transceivers 14 of cell phones 10 areconfigured to communicate with each other only indirectly, via basestations 50. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention,transceivers 14 of cell phones 10 also are configured to communicatedirectly with each other using a short range wireless protocol such asBluetooth. Such a transceiver 14 periodically transmits a signalinviting any other such transceiver 14 that receives the broadcast torespond by transmitting an acknowledgement signal identifying itself.For example, according to the device discovery procedure of theBluetooth standard, the first transceiver 14 periodically enters an“Inquiry” state in which the first transceiver 14 seeks other Bluetoothtransceivers 14 that are within wireless communication range bybroadcasting ID packets; and other Bluetooth transceivers 14 that are inrange and that are in an “Inquiry Scan” state identify themselves to thefirst Bluetooth transceiver 14. When the first transceiver 14 receivesan acknowledgement signal whose signal strength exceeds a predefinedminimum signal strength, the first transceiver 14 sets up a piconet withthe acknowledging transceiver 14 that supports direct wirelesscommunication between the two transceivers 14, with the firsttransceiver 14 functioning as the piconet master and the othertransceiver 14 functioning as the piconet slave. The first transceiver14 continues to transmit the invitation signal periodically. Othertransceivers 14 that acknowledge the invitation with acknowledgementsignals whose strengths exceed the predefined minimum are added to thepiconet as slaves. The predefined minimum signal strength thus defines aneighborhood of cell phone 10 of which the master transceiver 14 is acomponent. The user of the master cell phone 10 now is free to seekcontacts, contacts with target attributes, general users with targetattributes, and geographic locations thereof, as described above in thecellular telephony context of FIG. 4. In the absence of base stations,however, the master cell phone 10 must interrogate the slave cell phones10 to find out what their respective geographic locations (as determinedby the slaves' navigation units 28) and user profiles 22 (as stored inthe slaves' memories 18) are.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited numberof embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations,modifications and other applications of the invention may be made.

1. A method of communication by a user of a first wireless device,comprising the steps of: (a) defining a contact list that includes atleast one contact name; (b) defining a neighborhood of the firstwireless device, said defining being effected at the first wirelessdevice; and (c) indicating which of said at least one contact name isassociated with a respective other wireless device located within saidneighborhood.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said defining of saidneighborhood is effected by the user.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereinsaid defining of said neighborhood is effected by steps includingdefining a radius of said neighborhood.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein said defining of said neighborhood is effected by stepsincluding defining a minimum received signal strength.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of: (d) if one of said at least onecontact name is associated with a respective other wireless devicelocated within said neighborhood: communicating with said other wirelessdevice, by the user of the first wireless device.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein said communication is direct.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein said communication is indirect.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein said contact list includes, for at least one of said at leastone contact name, at least one respective attribute; wherein the methodfurther comprises the step of: (d) defining a target attribute, by theuser; and wherein said indicating also indicates whether said targetattribute is among said at least one respective attribute of said atleast one contact name that is associated with said respective otherwireless device located within said neighborhood.
 9. The method of claim8, wherein only said at least one contact name, that is associated withsaid respective other wireless device located within said neighborhoodand that has said target attribute among said at least one respectiveattribute thereof, is indicated.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: (d) for at least one of said at least onecontact name that is associated with a respective other wireless devicelocated within said neighborhood: indicating a geographical location ofsaid respective other wireless device.
 11. A method of communication bya plurality of users of respective wireless devices, comprising thesteps of: (a) defining a respective user profile for each user, at leastone said user profile including at least one user attribute; (b)defining a target attribute, by one of the users; (c) defining aneighborhood of the respective wireless device of said one user, saiddefining being effected at the respective wireless device of said oneuser; and (d) indicating to said one user which of the respectivewireless devices of the other users, whose respective user profilesinclude said target attribute among said user attributes thereof, arewithin said neighborhood.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein saiddefining of said neighborhood is effected by said one user.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein said defining of said neighborhood iseffected by steps including defining a radius of said neighborhood. 14.The method of claim 11, wherein said defining of said neighborhood iseffected by steps including defining a minimum received signal strength.15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of: (e) if arespective wireless device of another user, whose respective profileincludes said target attribute, is within said neighborhood:communicating with said other user, by said one user.
 16. The method ofclaim 11, further comprising the step of: (e) for at least one of saidrespective wireless devices of the other users whose respective userprofiles include said target attribute among said user attributesthereof and that are within said neighborhood: indicating a geographicallocation of said at least one respective wireless device. 17-30.(canceled)
 31. A wireless communication device, comprising: (a) atransceiver for communicating with other wireless devices; (b) amechanism for defining a neighborhood of the wireless communicationdevice; (c) a mechanism for defining a target attribute; and (d) adisplay mechanism for indicating whether a respective said otherwireless device, of a user who has said target attribute, is locatedwithin said neighborhood.
 32. The wireless communication device of claim31, further comprising: (e) a mechanism for setting up a piconet thatincludes the wireless communication device and said respective otherwireless device that is located within said neighborhood.
 33. Thewireless communication device of claim 31, further comprising: (e) anavigation mechanism for determining a location of the wirelesscommunication device.
 34. The wireless communication device of claim 31,further comprising: (e) a mechanism for indicating, for at least one ofsaid respective other wireless devices that are located within saidneighborhood, a geographical location of said at least one respectiveother wireless device. 35-40. (canceled)